Maxim Jaeger
Personality Jaegermonsters are a group of modified humans that can readily compared to bricks - they're a bit dull, rough around the edges, are hard to break, and are great for throwing through windows. There's never just one of them, either, though they aren't particularly good for building with. They're a bit too rowdy for that, loving a good fight more than anything else and any threats of bodily harm violence only encourages them. Their entire attitude towards death and suffering is incredibly cavalier, due to their longevity and regeneration abilities. As you can imagine, this means they don't need to band together to win a fight, so the primary reason they're usually found in large numbers is a social one. They're pack minded, and leaving the pack, or being disowned is considered akin to death. Though they're arranged into ranks, with seven of the oldest Jaegers (previously eight), the Generals, acting as the heads, they aren't actually self-lead – they follow whoever is the head of the Heterodyne family. But they don't serve the Heterodynes because they have to, and this is something they consider a point of pride. They're loyal to the Heterodynes out of love and respect, they're not slaves or pets, and if they receive orders they're not fond of, they won't hesitate to ask questions or outright refuse. While most of these base qualities hold true for Maxim, there is more to him than that. He's as flamboyant, cocksure, optimistic, and carefree as most Jaegers, but he also has a philosophical, broody side - as it says on the comic's character page, he's the most resigned of the wild Jaeger trio. When left to his own devices, he's more likely to hang back and keep to himself during group activities, watching others instead of interacting. Maxim was also a part of the group who voluntarily left the pack to go search for the missing brothers or a Heterodyne heir, leaving the rest of the pack free to stay with the Baron. This shows that Maxim recognizes that his personal well-being is not as important as that of the group, and that he has an extraordinarily caring spirit, to the point where he's willing to sacrifice himself for others. Leaving the pack is an action compared to death among the Jaegers, a point that's reinforced by the fact that Old Man Death, a human who used to ride with the them back in the day, commented upon seeing Maxim that the last time he'd seen the Jaegers, they'd said that Maxim was dead. Along this vein of thought, he has remarkably noble and chivalrous ideals. While this mainly shows up in a light-hearted, looking good for the girls fashion, when the situation calls for it, it's very serious. When Lars died protecting Agatha from the Baron, he went back for his body, saying that by fighting even though he was scared, with the Jaegers and for Miss Agatha made him as good as one of them. He then handed over his hat, saying Lars would need it for a proper burial. Maxim is also a bit smarter than the average Jaeger. Spending time away from the pack has forced him to learn how to think for himself, making him cleverer and trickier than the others (not that that's necessarily saying much). Recently, in his fight with Old Man Death, he's discovered this thing called subtlety, and he's latched onto it much like a teenaged boy and his first car. He loves it, and he sort of knows how it works, but he's still not that great at using it. This is not the only aspect in which he resembles a teenaged boy, either. Though he has confessed that he has never loved, that doesn't stop him from being a huge flirt. He's also a show-off; when the boys approached Master Payne about joining the circus, he immediately declared himself leading man material. This, of course, resulted in him bickering with Oggie over who got to kiss all the girls. He's not alone in his travels, however, as he has Dimo and Oggie along with him. The three are very close, having gone through the same experience of being separated from the pack at the same time, and they refer to each other as brothers. He is the youngest of the three, with Dimo as the eldest, acting as their sort of leader and always watching out for them. He seems a bit closer to Oggie, however, as they're never shown far apart, and it's Oggie who goes with Maxim when he gets his new hat. They also joke around together a lot, hamming it up while Dimo rolls his eyes at them. It's likely that the three, since leaving the pack, have never really been apart, and that Maxim, no matter how aloof he may act, has never been truly alone. Background The Jaegers are generally regardes as a lowclass of wizard, despite their heavy association with the Heterodynes and ages old heritage. See, while the Heterodynes are "eccentric," they still manage to maintain an appearance of aristocratic authority. The Jaegers, on the other hand, are a wild, unrestrained bunch with very little concern about reputation. Even outside of the wizarding community, they're well known for causing trouble and leaving destruction in their wake. They're not particularly concerned about the purity of their bloodline, either, creating a very large, extended family of mixed magical abilities. Enter Maxim, the fourth child of one of the eight clan heads known as the Generals. Even as a small child, he was every bit as rowdy and headstrong as the adults, something frequently encouraged by his two elder brothers, Ognian and Dimo. They, along with his sister Jenka, were the biggest influences in his young life, and the main reasons he stayed with his parents as long as he had. You see, as a clan head, his father was always on the move, performing tasks at the behest of the Heterodynes. And on top of rarely being around, their home was outside of Mechanicsburg, away from the bulk of the family, and Maxim did not appreciate this. When Oggie left for school with the other two, he was largely left home alone, so at the tender age of 9, Maxim packed up his things and ran away to his Aunt Gkika's. Not that his father even noticed until Gkika contacted him about the small child showing up at her Beer Hall demanding to stay. A huge fight ensued, but in the end, his father simply did not have time, and Gkika was more than happy to spoil the dickens out of the kid. In the following two years before his own schooling began, he got to actually meet the Heterodynes his father worked for, specifically their daughter who was his age, Agatha. She very quickly won him over, and he spent as much time as he could following her around, playing the knight in shining armor for her every chance he got (not that she needed him, exactly). Once school started, Maxim picked up the exact same reputation his brothers before him had - that of trouble and stubborn, blatant rule breaking. He is fiercely attached to his purple hat, and he doesn't care if it's non-regulation, he will fight anyone who tries to take it from him tooth and nail. His grades are pretty consistently poor - while he does well in the practical classes and does okay on tests, he simply does not do the homework. Relationships 'Ognian' BIG BRUDDER! 'Vanamonde' Other * Maxim's Shipping List External Links *Girl Genius Online